Authorities believe they have identified a man killed early Friday when struck while walking on railroad tracks along U.S. Route 36 in the Uhrichsville area.

Although the accident was reported at 12:25 a.m. Friday, Tuscarawas County sheriff’s officers spent the day seeking clues to his identity. Shortly after 8 p.m. Friday, a Uhrichsville woman called to report that her husband was missing.

Deputies were following up on that lead later Friday, and did not release his name.

The man apparently was alone while walking on railroad tracks parallel to Route 36, but wasn’t near a crossing when hit by the westbound Ohio Central Railroad train. The accident occurred near The Y Tavern.

“We’re fairly confident we have identified him, but we’re waiting on confirmation through medical or dental records,” Orvis Campbell said.

“We were told that he had been known to walk that way when going to a relative’s home in the Gnadenhutten area.”

The man wore a wedding ring with a date inscribed. Campbell said that initial information provided by the woman matched that date, which hadn’t been released to the public.

Officers had checked marriage licenses at the county courthouse, but several couples married on that date, and further investigation was required.

Earlier, authorities were left hoping that fingerprints and DNA obtained during an autopsy would help determine the man’s identity. The accident was reported to the county 911 Center by railroad personnel.

The man was transported by Smith Ambulance to Trinity Hospital Twin City in Dennison and later pronounced dead after efforts to revive him in the emergency room failed.

One of the few leads was that investigators had “traced back that he made a purchase at a store in Uhrichsville earlier Thursday, and that he was alone at that time,” Campbell said.

However, as of 6 p.m. Friday, no one had been reported missing in Tuscarawas or surrounding counties, Campbell said.

The man was described as being white, of thin build, and middle-aged.

“We think that because some of his hair was gray,” Campbell said.

The man was wearing a lightweight, red, sleeveless Ohio State University shirt, blue jean shorts, brown work boots and a tan and white Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Championship cap. A pair of sunglasses were found nearby.

“We looked, but we didn’t find a wallet,” Campbell said. “We found some cash that had apparently been blown through the air.”

Campbell said the man was carrying a plastic bag containing six unopened bottles of beer.